Origin of Plasmodium falciparum malaria is traced by mitochondrial DNA
David J. Conwaya, , , Caterina Fanelloa, Jennifer M. Lloyda, Ban M.A.-S. Al-Jouboria, Aftab H.
Balocha, Sushela D. Somanatha, Cally Ropera, Ayoade M.J. Oduolab,Bert Mulderc, Marinete M.
Povoad, Balbir Singhe, Alan W. Thomasf
a Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, London WC1E 7HT, UK
b College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
c Malaria Department, OCEAC, Yaounde, Cameroon
d Servico de Parasitologia, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Belem PA, Brazil
e Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia
f Biomedical Primate Research Centre, PO Box 3306, 2288 GH Rijswijk, The Netherlands
Abstract
The origin and geographical spread of Plasmodium falciparum is here determined by analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence polymorphism and divergence from its most closely related species P. reichenowi (a rare parasite of chimpanzees). The complete 6 kb mitochondrial genome was sequenced from the single known isolate of P. reichenowi and from four different cultured isolates of P. falciparum, and aligned with the two previously derived P.
falciparum sequences. The extremely low synonymousnucleotide polymorphism in P. falciparum (=0.0004) contrasts with the divergence at such sites between the two species (K=0.1201), and supports a hypothesis that P. falciparum has recently emerged from a single ancestral population. To survey the geographical distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes in P. falciparum, 104 isolates from several endemic areas were typed for each of the identified single nucleotide polymorphisms. The haplotypes show a radiation out of Africa, with unique types in Southeast Asia and South America being related to African types by single nucleotide changes. This indicates that P. falciparum originated in Africa and colonised Southeast Asia and South America separately.
Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium reichenowi; Mitochondrial genome; Genetics; Species; Evolution
Abbreviations: mt, mitochondrial; nt, nucleotide
Published in Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Volume 111, Issue 1, November 2000, Pages 163-171.
